Spring is upon is and beautiful fruits are showing up in gardens and our favourite Saturday markets. The school I teach at has a small garden and in it, beautiful rhubarb is ready for picking. Fruit crumbles are rather easy to pull together and the best part about them is that they can me made year ’round, with fruits in season. Make up your own combination, and as ratios go, about six cups of fruit (more is okay too!) will work well in this recipe.
The crumble is typically made with butter and I have substituted coconut oil to make it vegan friendly. Rice flour, and gluten free oats make this gluten free and you won’t lose any of the deep flavour from a traditional crumble with these substitutions.
In my photo, you see two dishes. I ended up having extra fruit on hand, and made an extra dish for a friend. The recipe below is for a 20 x 25 cm deep dish vessel.
Happy spring, and, bring on the rhubarb and forest fruits!
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time 50-60 minutes + 20min resting time
Total Time: about 90-100 minutes. Serves… a crowd! (12 people)
For the fruit base, you will need:
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 2 cups strawberries, stems removed and berries coarsely chopped
- 3 cups rhubarb, chopped into 2cm chunks (about 7 or 8 stalks)
- juice of a lemon
For the topping, you will need:
- 1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
- 1/3 cup pistachios, toasted and finely chopped
- 3/4 cup gluten free oats, finely ground
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil, chilled, plus a bit for greasing the pan
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Prepare a deep dish baking pan (20 x 25cms) by greasing the bottom and sides with about a teaspoon of coconut oil.
2. Make the base in a small bowl by combining the sugar and rice flour. In a larger mixing bowl, toss the blueberries and chopped strawberries and rhubarb with the lemon juice. Add the flour mixture to this, toss until the fruit is coated, and then spread this in the bottom of your prepared pan being sure to have a good mound of fruit as this will shrink as it cooks.
3. Make the topping by placing the ground nuts, oats, and sugar into a medium bowl and mix this well to combine. Add the chilled coconut oil by the tablespoonful, and rub this mixture together between your fingers until a coarse, pea-size crumb is formed. Crumble this over top of the fruit in the baking dish and pop it in the oven for about 50 minutes. At this time, you should hear the fruit bubbling away under the golden topping.
4. When the top is golden brown, remove the pan from the oven, run the blade of a knife around the perimeter, and allow the dish to cool on a rack for about 20-30 minutes before serving. You can add a scoop or two of your favourite vanilla or coconut ice-cream (vegan or not) to complement the warmth of this delicious dish.